Shadows
by AngelSooyung
Summary: Nancy Thompson is well-aware that old demons can come back to haunt people, but not in a way nearly as twisted...
1. Chapter One: Shrinks

**Authors note:** _Since there's no pairing list for Nightmare on Elm Street fanfiction I'm letting you know that this fiction focuses on Nancy and Freddy. That's all I'm going to say._

* * *

**SHADOWS**

_**Chapter One: **__**Shrinks**_

**

* * *

**

"Okay hon. Let's try this again. Exactly what happens in these night terrors of yours?"

A woman glanced up at Dr. Bender's question, her face pale.

"Staring at me isn't going to help this problem Nancy. Your going to have to talk." The doctor clicked her pen against her notepad.

"J_ustgivemethepills_."

"Sorry?"

"I just want the pills, Doctor." Nancy cleared her throat, "You told me last week that the they have a new medicine available for people like me-"

"-which will also not be approved by the FDA until next year and it may worsen your nightmares if I happen to let you take them now." Dr. Bender peered at Nancy over her rimmed glasses, "We also discussed_ that _last week." She scribbled something down on her pad.

"But what if I don't care?"

Dr. Bender rolled her eyes.

Nancy glared at her. "Aren't you here to help me get better?"

"Of course, however-"

"However _nothing!_ I've tried every damn method, every relaxation technique there is and it still doesn't do shit for me! I still see _him_, his face, and _God_, that fucking glove, _every, single, night_!"

Dr. Bender rose her eyebrows, "Now Nancy-"

"And-this isn't even supposed to be happening to me! I killed him a while ago. I'm twenty-one years old now and I'm supposed to be graduating university but I can't even do that because of.." Nancy trailed off. Her lip trembled.

"Because of Freddy?" Dr. Bender reached across the table and pushed a lock of hair behind Nancy's ear.

"Yeah...that bastard." Tears were now threatening to leak from Nancy's eyes.

Dr. Bender sat back in her chair for a few moments, her gaze never leaving Nancy's face. Her hand suddenly reached for something under the table.

Nancy wiped her nose with her sleeve. "Did you drop your pen or something?"

A long silence, and she soon realized that Dr. Bender had disappeared.

"Umm...hey, are you still... there?"

Silence. Then the lights overhead flickered. Empty footsteps created echoes around her.

A cold sweat began to trickle down Nancy's back. _It couldn't be happening, not now._ She helped herself up from the chair and glanced around until she spotted something that nearly made her scream.

A young girl, brunette and clad in a faded pink dress. She bore bloody slash marks across her body, representing the unmistakable symbol of-

"Freddy's coming soon," The girl giggled. "You better hide before he gets you too."

Another girl popped in the room, a higher pitch this time. "He's real angry too. He didn't like the way you fucked him over last time, _Nancy_."

Nancy shut her eyes tight and slapped her cheeks. "Okay, this isn't real! Come on, wake up!"

_Screeeeech._

"Shit." Nancy froze.

_Screeeeeeeech._

"Ready or not, here he comes!" The two girls giggled even harder and skipped away into nothingness.

Nancy now forced her eyes open. Her surroundings had warped into the reddish hue of the boiler room she was in six years ago. The same one she had wanted to forget.

_Screeeech._

"What the hell do you want from me now Krueger?" Nancy carefully walked down the main path of the area, "Haven't you played enough games already, you son of a bitch?" Breathing heavily, she climbed the staircase to where she _knew_ he would pop up in front, ready to kill like always.

"You can never play enough games." Someone whispered in her ear. Gentle, sweet, it was most defiantly not the growl of Freddy.

Nancy swallowed. She knew that voice well. Or used to.

"Glen?"

His warm hands touched her shoulders. "Yes, Nancy?"

"I-" She struggled to find words, "I know your dead, Glen. You can't exist."

"Why not?" His hands moved their way up to her neck, massaging it. "This is only a dream, after all. Enjoy it with me."

Nancy shrugged him off. "Your not the real Glen. And this isn't a dream, it's-"

"A nightmare?" Freddy sneered. His metal claws replaced Glen's fingers and closed around Nancy's throat.

She reacted immediately with a hard back kick into his torso. Hearing him fall, she ran forward as fast as she could.

_One... two...Freddy's coming for you..._

The voices of the two girls followed Nancy, almost mocking her in song as she tried to find a way out of the boiler room.

_Three... four... better lock your door..._

Her hands reached for the large ladder leading to the upper floor.

_Five...six..get your crucifix._

The ladder crumbled into dust. Nancy is clutching nothing but air.

_Seven...eight...gonna stay up late._

She fell on her back, knocked down by an invisible force.

_Nine...ten...never sleep again._

Nancy whimpered. One of Freddy's claws scraped against her arm, her shoulder, her neck.

"It's time to say goodnight, Miss. Thompson," He raised his glove in the air...

* * *

"NO! NO PLEASE!" Nancy struggled against Freddy, who suddenly resembled the white blanket that had been over her the night before, not to mention that he felt like it too. In any other situation this might have been comical, but today it was only worth the heavy gasps of relief that came out of Nancy's mouth. Her hand then reached for the alarm clock out of habit.

_9:15...don't I have to be somewher-?_

"Darn. I'm late!" Nancy jumped up from her bed and ripped open her drawers for a clean pair of work pants. It was going to be a long day.


	2. Chapter two: Jerk Alert

**SHADOWS**

**Chapter Two: Jerk Alert**

**

* * *

**

Nancy groaned as she rushed into the Springwood diner for her morning shift. For one, Marge had wagged "the finger" at her, which meant A, a reduction on her already small paycheck, and B, she would get a nice talking to in the office before the day was over. As for the second big part, well...it wasn't like Nancy actually _enjoyed_ serving black coffee and scrambled eggs for four hours anyway.

"Rough night, Thompson?" a man called out from the kitchen.

"Might have been better if you were around, Jared." Nancy said, "How'd you do without me?" She ran over and grabbed the nearest full plate.

"Oh, just lovely. I burned the first round of toast and almost dropped the frying pan on my toe."

Nancy chuckled. "Sorry I missed it. What booth is this order for by the way?"

"Five. Make it quick."

Mood slightly elevated, Nancy stepped out of the kitchen and made her way over to the customer.

"Here you go," she placed the food on the table, "Eggs over easy and bacon on the side. Enjoy."

The person looked at the plate, then at Nancy. His green eyes shifted in confusion.

"Is there a problem with your meal, sir?" Nancy asked, hoping that Marge wasn't roaming around the booths.

The young man shook his head, then laughed a little, "No, there's nothing wrong with it exactly, it's just that it's not what I ordered."

Nancy's brows furrowed. She checked the number on the plate again. "Oh! Oh. My bad, that's for booth four, but there's no one in booth four...whatever. I'll just take it back and then get-"

"No, no. Relax. It's fine. I always order the same thing. This is a good change for me." The man smiled at her. He had a nice smile. And nice dark hair, and a smooth face..and..

Nancy straightened out the wrinkles in her apron. _Well _

_damn. I haven't thought this way about a stranger since high sch-_

"**Nance, you done yet? We're backed up here!**"

She jumped at Jared's yell from the kitchen.

"I'm so sorry, uh, I gotta go." The words tumbled out of Nancy's mouth in a nervous wreck.

"It's fine. Thanks...um..." His eyes searched her apron.

Nancy looked down, "Crap.. I must have forgotten my name tag too. I'm Nancy." With that, she ran back to the kitchen before he could respond.

* * *

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

In her small college economics class, Nancy was sure only about one thing. If you stayed there long enough and got on the teacher's good side, he'd let you pass, even if you did nothing but zone out, which is what Nancy ultimately did after one of her tiring shifts at the diner.

"Now if you look at the recent trend in sales here..." Professor Micheals paused to pull out a chart on the projector screen.

_Blah. Blah. Blah. Just fast-forward so I can go to Literature and get my degree in **that.**_

Yawning, Nancy tapped her pencil once more before receiving a paper ball to the back of her head. She whipped around, amused, to find her friend Jessica waving at her.

"Grow up." Nancy stuck her tongue at her.

"Look who's talking." Jessica whispered.

"_Ahem_, ladies."

Nancy turned to the front to find her professor glaring in her direction.

"This may be a far smaller class than most colleges have, but I do expect you to act like college students and behave. Understood? Miss Thompson, Miss Bernett?"

"Yes sir." They said in unison, which both caused them to giggle hysterically, as immature as it was.

"I really don't know how you two-"

Professor Micheal's scolding was cut off by the creaking of the classroom door. A young man with dark hair and a handsome face came into the room, wearing a collared shirt and khakis, he was replica of the person Nancy saw at the diner.

"Ah, Mr. Thomas! Good of you to come in!" Professor Micheal's said, "I was just about wondering where you were-"

"Yes, yes. Sorry I'm late." The man shook the professors hand and faced the class, "Shall I begin my presentation then?"

"Absolutely! Now class, this man here is the very special guest to our curriculum I told you about in the beginning of the year..."

The rest of Professor Micheal's words were drowned out by the sudden suspicions going through Nancy's mind.

_His quite the looker..._

_...Well no kidding._

_But there's something off about him, I mean, it's not like everyday our small dumpy college gets a man like this..._

_Okay, now I'm starting to overthink. Can't afford to get paranoid now..._

_Breathe, Nancy._

_In and out, Nancy._

_One more time, Nancy._

_Now Nancy-_

_Nancy-_

"**Nancy**!"

Nancy started and looked around bewilderingly, "Huh?"

Professor Micheals huffed. "Would you pay attention, please? Mr. Thomas just asked if you would like to assist him in demonstrating something on the projector."

"Oh, uh no. No thank you I-"

"**I** think you owe it to him for not focusing when you should be. Get up there and have a go at it." Professor Micheals crossed his arms.

"But I won't know what-"

"Just go! He'll tell you."

"Okay." Nancy straightened herself up, "Alright. I'm going."

She side-stepped her way through the aisle and rose up to the projector. Mr. Thomas gave her a warm smile,

"Give me your hand." He whispered.

Nancy complied by holding out her palm.

He smirked, "Cool. Now hold this," He placed a blue marker in her hand, his fingertips brushing her skin.

Nancy's cheeks grew pink at the contact, she couldn't help it. "What am I supposed-?"

But "Mr. Thomas" didn't listen, and continued speaking, "Now, as useful as Nancy is as a marker-holder, I must get back to the stock exchange..."

_Really? I'm just standing here the whole time?_

_

* * *

_

After Mr. Thomas lecture, papers and pencils were being shoved back into bags, makeup being tucked into purses, and most of all, the female body of the class were chatting away as usual, only instead of the wild raves they were planning this weekend, the main topics happened to be:

"God, did you see Mr. Thomas's bod-"

"-He's pretty hot, I'd totally-"

"-real smartass too-"

"-I heard his family's rich-"

"-heard he's young and single-"

"-Can you believe he's our age too?-"

"-bullshit. Bet he's taken-"

And so on and so forth. Typical girl mush. But Nancy had learned to ignore it, and with the suspicions she had, it only made it harder this time.

"So what do you think of that Thomas guy?" Jessica piped up beside her as they walked out of the classroom.

Nancy turned to her friend in disbelief, "Christ, Jess. Not you too."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Oh come on. You don't get men that like here everyday...just tell me what you think of him."

Nancy turned around. Mr. Thomas was close by, but enough of her classmates blocked the way between them.

"I think he's an asshole."

"Oh please. You don't even know him!"

"All I know is that his parents are rich and that he called me out in front of the whole class. That gives him a 90% chance of being a jerk."

Jessica laughed. "Rumors, sweetie. Rumors."

Nancy sighed, "Look, it's just that the guy is giving me a weird vibe, alright?"

"What weird vibe? He's cute and-"

"And that's all there probably is to him, Jess! I mean, the guy-"

"Um, Nancy, he's-

"I know. I know. He's hot, cute, and smart and he's in our economics division, but that doesn't mean he still not-"

"_Nancy he's_-" Jessica looked urgently over Nancy's shoulder.

"He seems like a normal guy, I know. Now call me insane, but the vibe I'm getting just feels a little off. Do you think we've seen him someplace before or-"

"No, Nancy, your imagination is just on overdrive."

Jessica groaned. Nancy coughed and turned around, seeing a smug looking Mr. Thomas with a briefcase in his hand.

"The name's John Thomas, and I'm sorry that if brushing hands with a

guy makes you so hot and bothered. Just remind me next time that you're a prude virgin so we can take it even slower." Chuckling, he pushed through Nancy and down the stairs.

"That freaking-!" Nancy made a move to follow him.

"Shh!" Jessica pulled the back of her shirt, "Your not helping anything by doing that! This isn't high school!"

Nancy shoved Jessica off, "Well, for one, it will help me feel better, and two, maybe I can find out who this guy _really _is. So let me go."

Nancy went down two flights of stairs and eventually caught up with John in the lobby.

"You know, you've got some nerve talking to a girl like that!" Nancy grabbed his shoulder.

"And you have some nerve trying to play detective and sort me out as some freak! Do you think that's a good flirting technique or something?" John glared at her, "It's just creepy."

Nancy exhaled deeply. "Okay. Look, yea. I'm...I'm..."

_I'm what?_

"-sorry....It's just that.."

_Umm._

"I had this really weird nightmare yesterday and it's made me kind of freaked out and I guess I starting thinking too much about the whole thing."

_It'd be so much funnier if it weren't true._

John just stared at this statement, then half-jokingly said,

"Well... I guess that's right. I mean, no offense, your cute and all, but you look _really_ stressed out right now."

_He..believed me? Wow I- Oh, wait, can't blow my cover._

Nancy pressed her hands to her face, "Yeah. That makes sense...it's so awkward. Thanks a lot, Mr. Thomas."

John reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. "Call me John. Wanna smoke? It helps your nerves."

"Sure. I could use one."

Nancy followed him outside. The night breeze cooled her burning face.

"I'm sorry about that whole virgin thing, too. I was just messin'

around." He handed her the cigarette and lit it up.

"It's fine. I overreacted. I just need to chill, ya know?"

Nancy took a drag of her cigarette, soaking in the nicotine for a few moments.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nancy saw something move.

she noticed it was Grey fedora hat tumbling across the street.

"What the-?"

John moved his gaze to her, "Something wrong?"

And just like that, the hat was out of sight.

Nancy blinked twice, took another puff of her cigarette.

_It's not his hat. It's not **his** hat._

"Nothing. I just thought I saw somebody. That's all." She gave him what she hoped would be a convincing smile.

_God. I need some medication._


	3. Chapter Three: The Surface

**Authors note:** _I am going to let you know ahead of time that some concepts possibly in this chapter and so forth are taken from the new Nightmare on Elm Street movie released on April 30th, which was_

_terrible, but it does have elements I can work with for this fan-fiction. Also, I changed a few minor things from the 1984 flick involving Nancy and her friends._

_

* * *

_

**SHADOWS**

**Chapter Three: The Surface**

* * *

"So...what makes you so..._nervous_ anyway?" It was John's question that broke through the silence surrounding them.

Nancy inhaled her smoke. "Nothing. Just really stupid stuff."

"Like what?" John ashed out his cigarette.

"You really wanna know?"

"Yeah. Intrigue me."

Nancy opened her mouth to answer, and shut it. The worst that could happen would be that he'd walk away and refer her to the nearest loony bin, but then again, he already knew she was a little crazy, so what would be the difference?

"Well...?"

Nancy bit her lip. "It's going to sound really weird. Just promise you'll listen and not laugh."

John nodded. "Take it away."

_Where here goes nothing..._

"I used to have these dreams about this guy with a torn up red and green sweater, he had burn marks on his face too. He also had these... _knives_ for fingers and whenever I dreamt of him he would always try to slash me open."

"Sounds like you've been watching too many horror movies," John said, grinning slightly, "But look on the bright side, you'd wake up and-"

"I'd wake up and it'd feel _so_ real," A chill ran up Nancy's spine, "Like it happened when I was awake, and..."

"And?"

"And the worst part is, is that the dreams stopped five years ago. I beat the guy. But now he's back, and God knows what he wants now."

Nancy took the last puff of her cigarette, gazing into the sky for a few seconds before turning back to John. "Sounds pretty damn nuts, huh?"

John rubbed his chin. "Kind of, it's more strange than anything I've heard. But there's always a reason behind crap like this."

"Really? You think you can find an explanation for crazy old me?"

"I bet you bucks."

John sat on the stone ledge behind his back and patted the spot next to him. She plopped right down.

"Nightmares can happen for lots of reasons, but the main three are food, stress, and worrying." John pulled out a pen and notebook out of his pocket and scribbled a messy diagram, "So basically if you eat late or cram study every night you're most likely to have them."

"But those don't match up, " Nancy said, "The thing just came spontaneously-"

John flipped the notebook shut. "Then it happened just to happen. People get bad dreams once in a while, there's no way to avoid it."

Nancy was about to reply to this when the watch on John's wrist began beeping. It glowed the numbers 5:10, which meant that they both had six minutes to return to their last class of the night.

_What a waste._

She slung her book-bag over her shoulder. "Well thanks for the help I guess."

"Wait."

Nancy stopped mid-foot. "What?"

John rose up from the ledge and put his hands in his pockets. "I think you owe me."

Nancy snorted. "You want me to pay you for that amateur therapy session?"

"No," John laughed, "I meant it as in like a meal or somethin'."

"My paycheck's already low buddy, I can't exactly-"

John chuckled. "Christ. You really must be prude. I'm asking for a _date_, hon, if you wouldn't mind."

If her backpack wasn't so filled with textbooks, Nancy might as well have sat right back down. She had experienced dates and boyfriends, before, yes, but after what happened to Glen...and the whole Freddy thing popping up so soon...

"I dunno dude."

John checked his watch. "Do you think you could be able to make up your mind by tomorrow?"

Nancy brushed the ground with her shoe. "Yeah. Sure."

"Cool. Hope you dream well." John winked and began walking back to the front doors of the college.

_You wish._

_

* * *

_

The rest of the night came as easy to Nancy as the three c's of survival.

_Caffeine pills._

_Coffee._

_Coca cola._

All of which could be found in the local drug store.

"Guess you don't like to sleep much eh?" the plump woman at the counter said.

"No, not recently, anyway." Nancy grabbed her change and started to walk out of the store.

"Hold on, don't go!"

Thinking she must have left a thing behind, Nancy walked back over to the cashier.

"Yes?" The woman looked up.

"You said something?" Nancy asked, "Did I forget an item or-?

The woman shook her head and stabbed her finger to her right at a figure in the distance. "Chick over there told me to get you."

Nancy scratched her head. "Oh. Okay then..." Tucking the back in her purse, she went in that direction.

_Skinny...blonde hair...can't see her face because of the hoodie she's wearing._

Upon closer investigation, Nancy felt her stomach churn. "...._Tina_?"

The girl didn't respond, just kept staring ahead. Nancy moved faster.

"Hey, you wanted to talk to me? You can't possibly be her-"

_Squish._

"What the-?" Nancy glanced down at herself. The aisle had turned into a massive pool of red liquid that was rising up to her hip. Nancy turned her eyes back up at Tina, gasping.

Her whole body was oozing out the same liquid on the floor from various slash marks that were now appearing across her arms, chest, and legs. This was her _blood_.

"Oh fuck, Oh fuck," Nancy trembled and sloshed a few steps back.

It was then that the girl reached up, slipped off her hood, and glared at the cowering form that had become what was left of Nancy at the moment.

"Not so brave anymore, now are we?" She walked forward, "You shouldn't have left your guard down so easily these past few years."

"What do you want from me?" Nancy blurt out.

Gone was the spark she remembered in Tina's eyes, the rosy cheeks, the American-girl smile. This person was hallow..._dead_.

"It's not what I _want_ from you," Tina said, "It's what I would like to _do_ to you." She ran a hand down the large mark on her chest, "You see, all of this is **your fault.**"

Nancy shook her head, "Freddy sent you, didn't he?"

Tina smiled at the question. She moved closer to Nancy and yanked her hair, pulling her down into the red pool. Nancy gagged and struggled against her arm while the taste of copper filled her mouth.

Tina held her there for a few seconds, then forced her up and slammed her into the nearest shelf. Heaps of cosmetics and shampoo bottles came crashing down.

"You think you avoid this forever?" Tina yelled over the noise, "Think you could just bury it six feet under?" She shoved her hand through the pile of fallen items till she grasped Nancy's arm and pulled her up.

"But I didn't-" Nancy she was cut off by a hard blow to the face.

"DON'T LIE!" Tina screeched, tears suddenly pouring from her eyes, "YOU LET HIM KILL ME AND ROB AND EVERYONE ELSE! YOU NEVER WARNED US!"

Nancy spit out some of the blood that had leaked into her mouth and stared at her friend, shell shocked.

"WHY DID **YOU** SURVIVE?" sobs tore though Tina's words now, "WHY DIDN'T YOU DIE LIKE THE REST OF US? WHY WAS YOUR LIFE SO SPECIAL TO HIM?" She buried her face in her hands.

As Nancy continued to stand there, Tina's anguish became louder. Her sobbing echoed all across the store, and soon it was too much for Nancy to bear without doing something both brave and stupid. She moved her way over to Tina, and embraced her in an awkward hug.

"Shh....it's okay...this-this isn't real..."

Tina dug her nails into Nancy's back. "Go to Hell."

What was once Tina's damp hoodie turned dry, cracked, and started to crumble.

"No, No Tina-" Nancy clutched her tighter. Too tight.

Tina's body fell through her fingers. The head turned first. Then the upper body. And the legs.

She was nothing but a pile of ashes.

Nancy didn't move. She just couldn't do it. The sloshing sound of the blood pool filled her ears, rushed through her veins until **He** started laughing, and she started screaming.

_Wake up._

_Wake up M'am._

Someone was shaking her. Nancy couldn't see who...

_Does anyone have a phone? We need to call 911..._

Nancy wanted to speak. Tell the person she was fine.

_She just started freaking out of no where. It's scary._

Sirens. People talking. Being lifted and put someplace soft.

Blackness.


	4. Chapter Four: Micronaps

**Author's note:** _I want to thank my readers for the kind reviews they left! I'm really happy that people like my fan-fiction! :)_

* * *

**SHADOWS**

**Chapter Four: Micro-Naps**

**

* * *

**

The glow of florescent lights were the first thing to pull Nancy back to consciousness, including the hum of the monitor machine and the whispers of a male in blue scrubs.

"Hey there," He said, observing her movement. "You had the team worried for quite a while."

Nancy attempted to sit up on her back and rub her eyes. While doing so, however, she felt a sharp tug on her arm.

"Ouch!"

The man bent over to help, "Careful. We attached an IV pretty much as soon as you were admitted."

Nancy rubbed the area, blinking. The ID on his chest read _Robert Smith_.

"How long was I out?"

He shrugged. "Three, four hours I suppose." His hand reached into the drawer beside Nancy's bed and pulled out a yellow sheet of paper. "Dr. Wagner can tell you more about what happened. She's scheduled to assist in your case."

Nancy gave a soft kick to the blanket covering her. "My case? You mean my _treatment_, right?"

Robert tilted his head at this, as if studying her.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Right...I should have told you."

"Tell me what?" Nancy hugged her knees to her chest.

Robert sighed. He motioned his chin to a spot above Nancy's head, then shut the door behind him.

Bewildered, Nancy whipped around and peered up to find a white piece of paper tacked to the wall:

_**TEMPOARY IDENTIFICATION FORM:**_

**NAME: **Nancy M. Thompson

**ADDRESS: **156 Evelin Ave, 44590.

**PHONE NUMBER: **(Disclosed with parents.)

**DATE OF BIRTH: **7/6/1989

**TIME ADMITTED: **6:32 PM EST.

**TRANSFERRED FROM REGULAR HOSPITAL?:** YES.

**ADMITTED FOR: **Delusional behavior, Paranoia, and severe hallucinations.

**DID THE PATIENT REQUIRE SEDATION?: **YES.

**ID NUMBER: **703258

**(All basic information was acquired from previous medical records and will only be used to assist in gaining knowledge of the patient's history. Any misuse of information will be reported and violators will be prosecuted.)**

**© 1965-2010 Springwood Community Mental Facility**

"Crap!" Nancy ripped the paper off, unable to keep her eyes off the final line, " No! I'm not even delusion-"

_Creeeeak._

Overhead, the lights turned on and off.

Nancy bit her lip. It was just a power fail, or another doctor in the door, or at least an RN. It could not anything else. No. No. No. She wouldn't _let_ it be anything else.

"Poor little Nancy," h**is** voice crooned in her ear anyway, "All grown up and still so _scared_. I wonder what happened?

Nancy spun around, the hairs on her neck standing up. In full form stood Freddy himself, inches away from her, with the same red and green sweater, hat, and glove, which was now gliding along her cheek.

Nancy flinched at touch of cold steel. "Your not real...Your _just_ a nightmare..."

Freddy released her. Laughed. "That's right. It means no one can ever prove I was here."

Nancy slowly gathered herself up and stood up face to face with him, "_I_ can. I'll tell m-my father your back-"

"And what? He won't do anything about it." Freddy replied. "This is _my_ world. He can't come in."

"Big deal. I destroyed you before, and I'll damn well do it again," Nancy tried to keep her voice level. "Soon you won't scare me anymore. You'll be gone...you'll **die**."

He smirked. "So I'll die huh? Just like your friends did? Or your mother, maybe?" He gripped her closer and leaned down to hiss in her ear. "It's all tough talk, Nancy. There's no one left to back you up this time. _It's just you and me_."

Nancy pushed him away. "Don't bring them into this!"

"Why? Don't want to face the truth Nancy had to tell? They all died because of yo-"

"Stop!" Nancy covered her ears. "Leave me alone!"

"-You never told them Nancy. Never told them about me-"

"STOP!"

"-and what I was going to do to them. You're a **coward**. A filthy bitch who used up the only people who cared about you to save yourself!" Freddy laughed once more, harder this time. The sound was piercing, cruel, and made Nancy's blood boil.

"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!" Her fist slammed into Freddy. Right where that sick smile was.

_Damn him. Damn him. Damn him._

"Nancy! What is wrong with you?" He said. It wasn't Freddy's voice though, his mouth was moving but what was coming out didn't belong at all.

Nancy retracted her hand and blinked. Hard.

Lying right in the spot where Freddy had almost certainly had stood only seconds ago was her father. Donald Thompson, no-nonsense chief of the Spingwood police force, was knocked flat on his butt with a single blow to the face by his own daughter.

"Oh my God," Nancy breathed. "Oh my God Dad-"

_I'm not with Freddy anymore. I'm back at the hospital, and he must have came in-_

Her eyes darted around the room. Her blanket had been tossed on the floor, and three worn out nurses stood by her father's side tending to his bleeding nose. One of them left and started towards her.

Nancy reared back on instinct. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it. It was all so real-I didn't know!"

The nurse ignored her excuse and just about dragged Nancy out the door.

"Where are you taking me?" Nancy asked as they walked.

"To Isolation-14." The nurse said. "I'm afraid your diagnosis with Dr. Wagner will have to begin now." She halted, made a sharp left, and let go of Nancy as she pulled out a pair of keys from her green hospital pants. "The sooner we get you some medication, the less damage your likely to cause in the future." The nurse pushed in the key, causing the heavy duty entrance to open automatically.

Nancy simply stood there. The room was awful plain, with one small window for what she guessed would be observation.

_Like a bug under a microscope. Yippee._

The nurse gave her a little push.

"Hey, what happens if I have to take a pi-"

Nancy's question was drowned out by the slam of the door.

* * *

In a room like the one she was in, having a clock on the wall helped. Nancy could look up at anytime to see how much longer she had to talk with the wretched woman. On the other hand, the noise got old after only fifteen minutes in.

_Maybe if you counted the number of ticks it wouldn't be so bad...one...two...three..._

"Nancy, I'm not going to ask you again. Look at me and not the clock." Dr. Wagner clicked her black pen against her notepad.

_Click. Click. Just like before. Freddy should just pop up and be done with it already._

"Nancy. Do you want the help or not?" Her tone became cross.

"I've already told you everything that's happened, doctor." Nancy propped her hand against her chin. "All you have to do now is scribble your name and I'll take whatever pills I have to in order to stop it from ever happening again."

Dr. Wagner rubbed her forehead. "It's not that simple. You were too vauge in describing what you saw. Just give me more details."

"What I saw was a scary guy who keeps messing with my mind! What else do you have to know?"

"Just a little more Nancy! All I'm saying is that we can talk-"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Nancy crossed her arms. "I'm more concerned about making it stop, and you should be too." She turned to face the opposite wall.

Neither of them spoke for what seemed like hours, then Dr. Wagner cleared her throat,

"Fine. If that's really what you want..." She wrote something harsh on the notepad. "I'm putting you on minor dose of anti-psychotics..."

_Mmhm. And?_

"...Which will hopefully help the brain start functioning properly...we don't want anything like micro-naps forming.."

"Micro-naps?"

Dr. Wagner paused mid-scribble, "It's when your brain stops the process of reverting back to what's real when you're hallucinating. If it goes too far, it can lead to damage of the brain cells... when left hanging too long, it can cause the sufferer to lapse into a coma."

_Which is permanent sleep._

"But Freddy's coming even when I'm _not_ dreaming.." Nancy said under her breath.

"Sorry?" Dr. Wagner paused her writing once more.

"Oh, nothing."


	5. Chapter Five: Hidden Contradictions

**SHADOWS**

**Chapter Five: Hidden Contradictions**

**

* * *

**

Perhaps Nancy had the right to underestimate herself in terms of insanity, or maybe she'd scared the staff so bad that they didn't want her in there anyway. Whatever the reason was went smooth by her standards; Dr. Wagner's signature gave her everything she needed at this point, so now the only thing left to handle was her next of kin.

Nancy opened the front door of her Dad's car, her wristwatch showing it's hands at the two AM mark. Crickets were chirping their defacing chorus to the black sky while a few frat boys raised their beer bottles in the distance and made some noises of their own. _Just another Friday night in Springwood_, as one would say.

"Whew. Finally. You ready to go back home Nance?" Her father took in the driver's position. Even in the dark she could still see the gauze on his nose.

Not wanting to be reminded of the damage, Nancy turned to look out the window.

"Let her rip."

The engine came to life with a strong rumble. Heaving a satisfied sigh at the sound Nancy's father put the car into driving mode and pulled out of there.

The first ten minutes of the road had to always be spent in silence. It seemed to be once of the Thompson family's unspoken rules. If a passenger was dying, then yeah, of course _somebody_ had to talk, but otherwise just enjoy the free rush of trees and poles by your side. Nancy was particularity grateful for this tonight. She could just rest and not have to worry about-

"So...Dr. Wagner was _positive _about this whole disorder thingy?"

Nancy mentally swore. "Huh?"

"The thing she's giving you pills for, hon. The.." Her father paused for a red light. "The Psycho-whatever."

"The minor psychosis?"

"Yeah. That."

Nancy shifted in her seat-belt. "Mmhm. She's sure...why?"

Her father rubbed his chin and adjusted the rear-view mirror before answering,

"Eh...it's just that... I just wanted to be clear on things. Wanted to make sure that...well..."

He trailed off, then freed one of his arms to squeeze Nancy's shoulder.

"That what, Dad?"

The light turned green. His arm reverted back to the steering wheel.

"That you actually had mental issues."

_Oh here we go._

Nancy narrowed her eyes at him. "I must have hit you harder than I thought. You can't honestly be _relieved_ because-"

"I never said I was! And honestly Nancy just think about it for a sec, it explains so much." He reached into his pocket and held out Nancy's prescription sheet. "Sometimes it's okay to be a little messed up in the head sweetheart, that's all I'm saying..." He steered the wheel so that they were now in the parking lot into a 24-hour pharmacy.

_Well if your gonna put it that way..._

"Dad," Nancy said, "If the doctor said that I'm crazy, then where do you come in?"

This question made him go stiff. "What do you mean?"

Nancy straightened herself. "Six years ago, Dad. With Freddy Kreuger. You saw me defeat him."

She watched her father's hands grip the wheel until she was sure his knuckles were turning white.

"Do you remember?" Nancy asked.

His fingers relaxed slightly. "I suppose. But why are you mentioning a dead man?"

"Because whatever Dr. Wagner told you I said was lie. I've seen **him** Dad. He's **back;** both in my dreams and when I'm awake." Nancy's mind replayed the memories in her head as she said this, the laughter, the blood, the way he _touched_ her. It was enough to conjure fresh tears.

But her father only stared at her. Was that sympathy in his eyes? Disbelief? The darkness washed it all out.

Seconds turned to minutes. Her chance was running out of fuel.

_I have to say something. Anything before he-_

Her father had made his decision for her. He opened the car door to leave.

"No, Dad-" Nancy grabbed his arm. "You believe me right? You have to. You saw him die before, and you saw me freaking out in my hospital room because of him earlier today! _You have to believe he's come back_!"

Her father shook her off. "Well what I see right now is a very sick girl who needs her medication, and I don't need any more proof to believe _that, _Nance_._" He shut the door and headed in the direction of the pharmacy.

Dad must be as scared as I am.

* * *

It was given as a strict order by Dr. Wagner that Nancy stay with her Dad for a couple of weeks, given the benefit that he was closer to the facility and therefore had better access to the place in case of an emergency. Every three hours or so her father had to check up on her to make sure she wasn't having "hallucinations" again, which meant Nancy had little privacy these days. However she didn't have room to complain. She may have failed to convince him of what was really going on, but his little distractions kept her awake; far away from future nightmares.

Away from Freddy.

The method worked too. At least before the final week. When she found out that he had to start working the night-shift, her gut gave her nerves a jolt.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Nancy called from the living room, gulping down a pill with the last of her of orange juice. "Not much goes on out in Springwood. Get's pretty boring, you know?"

A pot clanged against the sink. Her father was beginning to wash last night's dishes.

"There's no choice in it, Nance." He replied over the running water, "It's a requirement. You'll just have to hang here for a couple of nights, okay?

To anyone other teenager, that statement would mean having open options. The option to have a slumber partys, booze, or that forbidden boyfriend over for fun. To Nancy those things meant little.

That statement was nothing but another call to battle.

* * *

_Cookies, salt stock, chips..._

Nancy's hands tore through her father's kitchen cabinets, searching frantically for another source of caffeine.

_Instant noodles, instant mac n' cheese, Cake mix..._

Huffing, she stood on her tippy-toes and pushed her arm in farther.

_Hmmm...definitely does not feel like a box. Plastic-like. Please tell me it's..._

She dragged out the bag container and smiled.

_Last bag of Cup of Joe's. My only choice._

"Nancy? You okay in there?"

Her father walked in buttoning his uniform, pausing when he noticed that all the cabinets had been yanked open.

"Hey dad," Nancy hopped down from the stool she was standing on. "Just looking for some coffee is all."

He scratched his head. "I don't think you'll need to be drinking that any time soon, it's almost ten PM." He peered closer at her. "not to mention you got some dark circles showing up."

Nancy shrugged. If her appearance had to suffer in order to survive, the so be it. She placed the bag on the table and gave her dad a hug good-bye.

"You clean all this crap up and head straight up to bed, " he kissed her cheek, "Okay?"

"Yeah. You stay safe out there for me though." Nancy kissed him back.

"Deal, then?"

Nancy crossed her fingers behind her and stuck out her hand. Then her Dad gave out his.

_Ignorance is bliss._

They shook once, and he was out the door in a jiffy. Nancy pushed the curtains back from the windows and waved until his car was out of sight.

The easy part was finished. The hard part had now begun. She scrambled to put all the boxes away in the right place and filled up the coffee pot with water to boil. She knew that if she didn't keep her senses busy somehow her vision would start to go foggy, so she made a big deal of turning the TV and radio on high blast.

_Talk show host, meet rock music. Not a bad combination if I don't say so myself._

Joints aching from all the movement, Nancy decided on a five minute sit-down period, right in front of the TV.

_All I have to do is not fall asleep._

And her eyelids slid shut despite the thought! She forced them open with her fingers.

_Whoa! Okay. Major fail. I need caffeine **right now**._

Nancy shook herself up and went into the kitchen, the bubbling pot greeting her with steam. She ripped open a handful of packets from the instant coffee container and poured them in before taking it off the machine.

_Got caffeine that's a little too hot to drink yet. What do I do now?_

Her mind went running with ideas._ Walk around some more. Play some video games. Do jumping jacks. Sing._

She tried the first idea. Her body protested right away, demanded for her to lie down after each minute.

Nancy soon had to fight urges like these off for hours, even after her third cup of joe. She snapped back up when she found herself nodding off. She pinched herself when her eyes shut. The process ebbed away her energy in bits and pieces, going to where she could not resist the comfort of the couch, inching right up to edge where her brain no longer wished to bother to think about staying awake at all.

Nancy's conscious was going out at rapid speed. Stopping it was impossible at this point. Her thoughts were the last hope she had.

_Get up! Nancy lift your head! You can't let Freddy get you!_

_You can't let him get you...!_

_You can't let...!_

_No...._

_No...don't go...._

_Don't sleep!_

_Don't sleep..._

_Don't...._

_sleep......_

_............._

It was like an inevitable chain reaction. All things had to give in eventually no matter how how much effort you put into it.

* * *

The process of dreaming, in a way, was to be something to look forward to. Just lay down your head and you'll drift away for a bit, free to be king of foreign lands or accomplish things people never thought about in the boring process they called living. You could create your own magical kingdom, or spontaneously kiss that cutie without suffering the consequences that applied to reality.

However that only happens if that person _has_ some idea over how they get to the dream and where they end up. So when Nancy resurfaced, she found herself welcomed by the blinding light of the sun and a hard landing on a stretch of pavement.

"Ow!" Nancy yelped as her butt made contact. "I thought you weren't supposed to feel pain in REM sleep." She brushed off the grime and was about to steady herself when she heard a little girl giggle,

"Hurry Tina, this way!"

Nancy's senses jumped awake at the mention of her old best friend's name. _Had she returned to hurt her again? _Nancy rushed to her feet and checked around, panning her sight over the surrounding bushes. She searched for signs. Bright clothes, long hair, or even-

"Where's my bracelet?"Another voice asked. It seemed only a little farther back from where Nancy was.

"I dunno." The other girl said, "You dropped it. But be quiet or he'll find-"

That's when both let out terrible screams. Nancy spun around in their direction and ran to help in whatever was going on. But instead of the gory murder scene she had pictured in her mind, she stopped in her tracks to find them laughing, being spun around by an unfamiliar young man.

"Gotcha!" He cheered, hugging the one with brown hair. "Now _you're_ gotta be it next time Miss Thompson."

_Huh?_

Nancy's mind went blank. It had to be a coincidence that the girl had the same last name as her.

"You scared me and Nancy so bad," the blonde one who Nancy now assumed was the younger Tina said. "Did you hear us?"

The young man chuckled. "Yep. Must have the neighbors thinking we're all crazy." He released Nancy's younger self and picked something off the ground. The older Nancy inched closer to see what it was.

Nancy's younger self whimpered as he picked up the Grey fedora. "Don't go! We can still play longer!" She tugged at the sleeve of his sweater.

The young man moved his head from side to side. "Sorry kiddo. I gotta get back to work." He bent down and squeezed her in a another embrace. "But we can play hide-and-seek tomorrow, okay?"

She nodded. Then Tina outstretched her arms,

"Thank you for walking us home."

The man shrugged at her gesture. "Your welcome." He turned and would have walked straight through the older Nancy had she not hid out of the way in time.

The younger Nancy cupped her mouth with her hands. "Bye Freddy!"

_WHAT?_

The older Nancy's face went pale. She remembered that her father had told her that Fred Krueger had murdered twenty children in Springwood before Nancy was a teenager. If that was the case, then why were they allowed near him when they were young?

While that question rang in her head, Nancy's surroundings changed. Her feet were under freshly mowed grass. Boys and girls chattered and played as a man watched diligently. His back was to Nancy, but she could spot the gray hat.

Everything blurred once more. Nancy spiraled into grass again, however this time chairs were laid out in front and slightly older children sat in them. A picnic table had been spread with food and balloons to her right.

"Okay everyone, picture time." A woman called. She walked past Nancy and motioned for the children to settle down. The card in her pocket read _Mrs. Ross_.

Several of the children continued to talk, only ceasing when Mrs. Ross held up a warning finger.

"Thank you." She faced in Nancy's direction. "Freddy? Bring out the camera please?"

Nancy turned and watched the young Fred Kreuger struggle to carry a in the Polaroid. Twice he nearly tripped over the dangling tripod.

"Come on Freddy!" She said. "We haven't got all day."

"I'm trying the best that I can." He wiped the sweat off his brow.

It took half the time it did Freddy to bring the thing over in order to set up, so soon Mrs. Ross and the children got what they were waiting for; squinty smiles under the hot sun.

"Say cheese everybody!" Freddy pushed the flash extension, and along the blinding light came in one last image. A school sign reading "BADHAM ELEMANTARY" in colorful block letters.

The words were definitely a thing to remember when Nancy crashed back to her living room, sweat drenched and near deaf from the TV blaring in her ear.


End file.
